Pepijn Reinderink of the Netherlands secured victory in stage three of the Škoda Tour de Luxembourg on Friday, conquering the race’s gruelling queen stage. The riders faced significant elevation changes after departing from Wiltz, with Reinderink ultimately prevailing after 179.6km, crossing the finish line in Diekirch just one second ahead of his closest rival. Italian cyclist Davide Piganzoli finished second on the day, a result that propelled him into the yellow jersey as the new race leader. Thomas Gachignard now sits in second place overall, trailing Piganzoli by six seconds, while Mattéo Vercher is third, nine seconds behind the leader.
Arno Wallenborn was the best-placed Luxembourger, finishing thirty-first with a time deficit of six minutes and twenty-seven seconds. Larry Valvasory followed closely, taking thirty-second place at the finish.
The race continues on Saturday with the riders set to tackle the fourth stage, an individual time trial in Ettelbruck.
With around 50km remaining, a large chase group of ten riders bridged across to a breakaway group of nine at the front of the race. At that stage, the main peloton trailed by more than two minutes and, due to the high pace and challenging course profile, was unable to close the gap. In the final kilometres, both the peloton and the lead group fractured under the pressure, as expected on such tough terrain.
On the technical and demanding finishing circuit, it became every rider for themselves. Ultimately, Pepijn Reinderink managed to carve out a decisive advantage, securing the queen stage victory as he crossed the line. Behind him, new general classification leader Davide Piganzoli and Thomas Gachignard joined him on the day’s podium.
